Duruc*TE« 


UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA 


AGRICULTURAL  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


BERKELEY,    CAL. 


E.  W.  HILGARD,  Director. 


BULLETIN  NO.   102 


ANALYSES    Of    FIGS   /cND    fIG    SOILS. 


The  growing  importance  of  the  fig  industry 
in  California  calls  for  a  full  investigation   of 
this  fruit,  in  order  to  determine  as  quickly  as 
possible  the  peculiarities    of  each  variety  as 
grown  in  the  different  sections  of  the  State,  and 
thus  to  gain  an  insight  into  their  probable  com- 
mercial adaptations,  as  well  as  their  nutritive 
values.    In  accordance  with  this  plan,  already 
outlined  and  exemplified  with  respect  to  other 
fruits  in  bulletins  93,  97  and  101  of  this  station, 
such  figs  as  were  obtainable  of  the  crop  of  1892 
have  been  examined  and  are    here  reported 
upon.    The  comparatively  limited  number  of 
samples  received  thus  far  does  not  justify  an 
extended  discussion  of  the  practical  bearings  of 
the  results;  yet  the  fact  that  they  embrace  a 
few  of  the  most  important  varieties,  as  well  as 
a  number  of  new  ones  grown  at  the  University 
Experiment  Stations,  lends  interest  to  them. 
Marked  differences  will  be  noted  particularly 
as  regards  the  proportions  of  juice,  sugar  and 
acid,  as  well  as  in  the  nitrogen  contents  which 
so  essentially  determine  the  nutritive  value; 
points  of  direct  importance  to  the  grower  as 
well  as  to  the  consumer.    The  farmer  is  also 
specially  interested  in  the  amount  and  kind  of 
ash  ingredients  and  nitrogen  taken  from  the 
soil  by  the  fruit,  since  these  represent  what 
sooner  or  later  will  have  to  be  replaced  by  fer- 
tilization, according  to  the  character  of  the  soil 


selected  for  the  orchard.  In  this  connection 
the  result  of  the  examination  of  typical  soils 
that  for  ages  have  been  used  in  the  production 
of  the  best  figs  of  commerce  presents  great  in- 
terest, since  we  are  thus  enabled  to  compare 
them  with  those  of  this  State  that  have  been  or 
are  likely  to  be  used  in  fig-growing,  thus  gain- 
ing a  definite  basis  for  their  selection. 

Producers  of  these  fruits  are  again  invited  to 
communicate  with  the  station  in  regard  to  the 
examination  of  their  product  during  the  com- 
ing season.  E.  W.  H. 


Description  of  Figs  Received. 

No.  1,  White  Adriatic,  from  Fresno,  name  of 
grower  not  obtained ;  sample  received  on  Aug. 
19th.  Condition,  good ;  color,  greenish  yellow ; 
fruit  very  tender,  fairly  juicy  and  very  sweet; 
a  typical  fruit  of  its  kind. 

No.  2,  White  Adriatic,  Kern  Co. — Grower,  Geo. 
A.  Raymond  ;  sample  received  Sept.  2d.  A  large 
fruit;  in  excellent  condition;  delicate,  juicy  and 
very  sweet  fleshed;  color,  almost  cream  yellow. 
On  pp.  5  and  6  will  be  seen  a  description  and 
analysis  of  the  soil  upon  which  these  figs  were 
grown. 

No.  3,  Smyrna  ( t ).  Solano  Co.— E.  R.  Thurber, 
grower;  sample  received  Aug.  6th.  Condition, 
good ;  a  medium  sized  fruit ;  color,  dark  yellow  ; 
flesh,  not  very  tender  or  sweet. 

No.  4,  Smyrna  Bulletin,  Tulare  Co. —  Grower, 
San  Joaquin  Valley  Experiment  Station; 
sample  received  Aug.  17th.  A  much  smaller 
but   sweeter  fruit  than  No.  3 ;  coarse-fleshed ; 


color  good.  This  fruit  is  from  young  trees  and 
is  marked  as  frost-proof. 

No.  5,  California  Black,  Solano  Co.— E.  B..  Thur- 
ber,  grower  ;  sample  received  Aug.  6th.  Condi- 
tion, good ;  a  medium  sized  fruit  with  coarse 
flesh  and  rather  hard ;  tough  skin,  taste  not 
very  sweet. 

No.  6,  Hirtu  du  Japon,  Tulare  Co. —  Grower, 
San  Joaquin  Valley  Experiment  Station ; 
sample  received  Aug.  17th.  Condition,  only 
fair;  size,  medium;  color,  purple;  flesh,  white 
in  color,  tender ;  juicy  and  quite  sweet.  A  pro- 
lific bearer  and  frost-proof.    Trees  young. 

No.  7,  Constantine,  Tulare  Co.  —  Grower, 
San  Joaquin  Valley  Experiment  Station ;  sam- 
ple received  Aug.  17th.  Condition,  good  ;  size, 
small;  color,  striped  green  and  purple;  flesh, 
hard  and  fibrous,  but  quite  sweet ;  sample  from 
voung  trees ;  another  frost-proof  variety  at  Tu- 
lare. 

No.  8,  Du  Roi,  Tulare  Co. — Grower,  San 
Joaquin  Valley  Experiment  Station;  sample  re- 
ceived August  17th.  Condition,  good ;  color, 
cream ;  fully  ripe  ;  flesh  hard  and  rather  dry ; 
taste,  quite  sweet.  A  new  variety  which  also 
proves  its  ability  to  withstand  frost ;  from  trees 
young. 

No.  9,  Doree  Narbus,  Tulare  Co. — San  Joaquin 
Valley  Experiment  Station,  grower;  sample 
received  Aug.  17th.  A  very  small  fruit ;  con- 
dition, good,  but  flesh  dry  and  tough,  although 
very  sweet ;  variety,  frost-proof  ( hardiest  of  54 
varieties  at  the  station  ) ;  sample  grown  on 
young  trees. 

No.  10,  Pasteliere,  Tulare  Co.— San  Joaquin 
Valley  Experiment  Station,  grower ;  sample  re- 
ceived Aug.  17th.  Condition,  only  fair ;  size, 
small;  flesh,  fibrous  and  rather  tough,  although 
quite  juicy  and  sweet ;  variety  frost-proof; 
sample  from  young  trees. 

No.  11,  Brunswick,  San  Luis  Obispo  Co. — Sins- 
heimer  Bros.,  growers ;  sample  received  Oct. 
25th.  A  very  large  fig  of  dark  color  and  tender, 
juicy  flesh  ;  taste,  very  sweet. 

Soil  of  Nos.  4,  6,  7,  8,  9,  10,  see  pages  5  and  6. 

The  large  table,  page  4,  shows  the  results  of 
the  analytical  work  for  the  season  1892;  sub- 
division A  gives  the  physical  and  proximate 
analyses ;  B,  the  analysis  of  the  ash  of  White 
Adriatic  and  Smyrna  fig. 

In  this  table  it  will  be  noted  that  we  have  not 
tried  to  draw  any  average3,  for  the  reason  that 
the  number  of  samples  is  too  small  to  justify 
it.  We  will,  however,  in  a  brief  way  point  out 
and  discuss  a  few  of  the  data. 

PROPORTION  OF  JUICE  TO  PULP  IN  THE  FRUIT. 

The  juiciest  fruit— No.  2,  White  Adriatic,  has 
over  85  per  cent,  juice;  that  of  No.  11 — Bruns- 
wick— with  82,  and  No.  6— Hirtu  du  Japon— 
with  80.6,  being  the  only  ones  which  nearly 
approach  it.  The  driest  sample — No.  4,  Smyr- 
na (Bulletin)— contains  but  64  per  cent  juice. 
The  pulp  as  here  given  contains  the  skin  and 
seeds  as  well  as  the  pressed  flesh. 

SUGAR    AND    ACID    CONTENTS    OF    THE    JUICE    AND 


The  determination  of  sugar  is  confined  to  the 
total  amount  of  ihat  substance,  no  effort  having 
as  yet  been  made  to  find  the  proportion  of  the 
different  sugars  (  dextrose,  levulose,  cane  sugar, 
etc.)  in  these  fruits,  for  lack  of  time. 

On  the  whole  fruit,  the  hiehest  sugar  is  seen 
in  No.  2,  White  Adriatic;  however,  the  juice  of 


No.  4,  Smyrna,  shows  29.90  per  cent  sugar,  which 
when  referred  to  the  fresh  fruit  is  still  over  one 
per  cent,  less  than  that  of  the  White  Adriatic, 
or  as  19.20  to  20.45  per  cent.  No.  9,  Doree  Nar- 
bus, and  No.  7,  Constantine,  with  respectively 
27.40  and  24.04  per  cent  sugars  in  their  juice, 
show,  on  account  of  their  dry  flesh,  much  less 
sugar,  on  whole  fruit,  than  either  of  the  Adri- 
atics.  No.  3  Smyrna  ( ? ),  has  the  lowest  sugar 
percentage,  amounting  to  but  8.0,  on  the 
whole  fruit ;  some  4.5  per  cent  less  than  the 
California  Black  ( No.  5 )  with  12.40. 

European  data  at  hand  do  not  give  any  re- 
port upon  fresh  figs,  but  from  the  German  an- 
alyses of  dried  figs  it  is  easy  to  calculate,  ap- 
proximately, that  the  sugar  in  the  whole  fresh 
fruit  amounts  to  about  20.00  per  cent.,  thus 
showing  no  advantage  over  our  largely  grown 
White  Adriatic  figs  in  sugar  contents. 

The  table  below  makes  it  evident  that  among 
California  fruits,  the^s — White  Adriatic  espe- 
cially— hold  no  mean  place  in  sugar  contents. 

PERCENTAGES   OF   SUGAR   AND   ACID. 

jtjic  e.         I  Flesh.  |  Whole  f  r't. 


Figs,  White  Adriatic 
Other  tigs,  fm  Tulare 

Apricots  

French  Prunes 

Plums 

Peaches 

Grapes 

Oranges 


10  to. 


Sugars,  Per  Cent. 


23.90 
10  to  29 
13.31 
23.69 
17.9/ 
17.00 
24.00 
10.68 


11.93 
19.70 
13.25 
13.40 
23.00 
7.12 


19.20 
8.0  to  19.20 
11  10 
18  53 
12.89 
12.50 
20.70 
5.40 


The  acid  of  the  figs,  expressed  in  terms  of  sul- 
phuric ( S03 )  for  the  sake  of  comparison,  seems 
thus  to  be  very  much  lower  than  that  found  in 
any  of  our  other  fruits. 

NUTRITIVE   VALUES — NITROGEN   CONTENTS. 

Without  repeating  what  has  already  been  pub- 
lished by  This'  Station  in  its  fruit  bulletins,  Nos. 
93,  97  and  101,  relative  to  the  importance  of 
the  flesh-forming  ingredients  ( albuminoids )  of  our 
fruits,  we  give  below,  in  tabular  view,  the  aver- 
age amounts  of  these  materials  contained  in 
some  of  the  fruits  we  have  examined  and  con- 
sidered. Added  to  this  are  such  data  from 
European  sources  as  are  at  hand. 

AVERAGE  PERCENTAGES   OF   ALBUMINOIDS 


FIGS. 

California- 
White  Adriatic... 
Others 

European 

ORANGES. 

California 

European  (Sicilian) 

apricots. 

California 

European 

PRUNES. 

California 

European 

APPLES  AND  PEARS. 

European 


&3 


1.50 
1.20 
1.42 

1.14 
1.78 

1.25 

.49 

1.012 


.375 


In  the  Fresh 
Flesh,  or 
Edible  Por- 
tion. 


In  Fresh  Pits 
or  Rind. 


Calculated  to  Whole  Fresh 
Fruit. 


(1.50) 
(1.20) 
(1.42) 

.76 


.837 


.162 
.175 


As  heretofore  pointed  out  in  bulletin  101,  the 
fig  rates  first  in  flesh- forming  materials  among 
our  fruits;  apricots  and  plums,  second;  prunes 
and  oranges,  third. 

It  is  interesting  to  reproduce,  at  this 
point,  a  summary  of  the  food  constituents  of 
some  of  our  dried  fruits  as  compared  with  the 
dried  fig — results  already  published  in  bulletin 
No.  101.  In  addition,  the  analysis  of  a  sample 
of  California  raisin  is  here  reported. 

PERCENTAGE  COMPOSITION   OF   DRIED   FRUITS. 


CONTENTS. 

3 

CD 
CO 

> 

V 

3. 

o 

55" 

p 

on' 

e 

IB 

*4 

2 

"2. 

•2 

PER  CENT. 

Dri 

Edibh 
tic 

ed. 
i  Por- 

c 
a 

:  > 

:  a 

•O  CO 
CD  2 

g 

CD 

s 

Water 

Ash 

25.20 
1.50 

2.80 

32.44 
1.38 

2.90 

18.95 
1.55 

4.00 

25.00 
2.24 

4.50 

21.06 
1.8 

4.06 

33.00 
1.40 

Albuminoids   (Crude 
Protein ) 

1.70 
8.30 

Nitrogen  —  free  ex-  f 

29.77 

32.18 

2.3j 

10.11 

10.18 

21.60 

Sugar        

Free  Acid,  calculated 
as  Sulphuric  ( S02 ) 

40.53 

.40 

29.L9 
1.51 

72.50 
.70 

57.60 
.45 

62.50 

.40 

32.00 
2.00 

To*al 

100.00 

100. CO 

100.00 

100.00 

100. OG 

100.00 

necessitate  an  analysis  by  us  of  the  ash  of  an 
imported  fig.  The  results  obtained  are  given  in 
the  accompanying  tables,  and  it  will  be  noted 
that  the  figures  agree,  within  the  limits  to  be 
expected,  with  those  we  report  for  our  figs. 
Thus  we  are  able  to  correct  the  data,  given  in 
Bulletin  No.  101,  relating  to  European  fig  ashes. 
The  following  small  table  gives  the  amounts, 
in  pounds,  of  vital  soil  ingredients  extracted  by 
the  different  fruit  crops  ( for  fruit  alone)  that 
will  have  to  be  replaced  by  fertilization.  Bul- 
letin No.  101  gives  more  data  relating  to  Euro- 
pean fruit  than  we  need  for  the  present  discus- 
sion. 

SOIL   INGREDIENTS  EXTRACTED   BY   DIFFERENT 
FRUIT   CROPS. 


Fruits. 


•Samples  from  the  vineyard  of  Prof.  R.  H.  Loughridge, 
Woodland  California. 
t  Analyzed  at  this  Station. 

As  stated  in  previous  fruit  bulletins,  these 
results  are  too  meager  to  serve  as  the  basis 
for  a  general  discussion  of  the  relative 
food  values  of  the  fruits  examined.  How- 
ever, we  note  some  wide  differences  among 
the  nutrients.  For  instance,  the  sugars  and  al- 
buminoids, or  crude  protein,  show  considerable 
variation  ;  the  apricots,  like  the  apples,  yielding 
less  than  one-half  as  much  sugar  as  the  Muscat 
raisin,  which  contains  nearly  twice  as  much 
sugar  as  the  prunes  and  li  times  as  much  of 
that  substance  as  the  fig.  European  analyses 
of  raisins  show  figures  for  sugar  contents 
which  differ  but  little  from  those  we  give  here. 
Both  raisins  and  figs,  with  respectively  4 
and  4.5  per  cent,  albuminoids  (  flesh-forming 
materials),  stand  from  li  to  2  times  above  the 
other  fruits  in  this  respect.  The  fig  yields 
nearly  twice  as  much  ash  as  the  other  fruits 
here  reported. 

ASH   COMPOSITION   AND  NITROGEN  CONTENTS. 

According  to  previous  bulletins  relating 
to  fruits  (Nos.  93,  97  and  101),  the  fig 
stands  second  in  amount  of  mineral  matter 
withdrawn  from  the  soil  for  equal  weights 
of  the  various  fruits.  From  European  data  we 
place  grapes  first  in  this  respect,  and  from  our 
own  findings  the  orange  third,  and  the  prune, 
apricot  and  plum,  fourth.  We  report,  in  the 
large  table  on  p.  4,  an  ash  analysis  of  the  White 
Adriatic  fig  from  Kern  county,  and  as  the  fig- 
ures there  represent  a  considerable  district,  we 
can  take  them  as  a  fair  guide,  the  analysis  of 
the  ashes  of  other  fruits  from  different  locali- 
ties in  California  having  shown  that  the  varia- 
tions will  not  be  great  enough  to  vitiate  the 
conclusions.  But  few  European  analyses  of  fig 
ashes  are  at  hand  and  their  great  discrepancies 


FIGS. 

*Europe  — 

In  each  1000  lbs 

Crop  of  15,000  lbs 

California  (White  Adriatic) 

In  each  1000  lbs 

Crop  of  15,000  lbs 

GRAPES. 

Europe— 
In  each  1000  lbs 

CALIFORNIA  APRICOTS. 

In  each  1000  lbs 

Crop  of  30,000  lbs 

CALIFORNIA  PRUNES. 

In  each  1000  lbs 

Crop  of  3>,000  1bs 

CALIFORNIA.  ORANGES. 

In  each  1000  lbs 

Crop  of  20,000  lbs 


H 

*t 

hj 

o 

o 

fcf 

oo 

> 

sr 

> 

jy 

5* 

& 

3= 

ED 

8.00 

3.89 

.89 

120.00 

58.35 

13.35 

7.81 

4.69 

.86 

117.15 

70.45 

12.90 

8.8 

5.00 

1.52 

4.91 

2.90 

.64 

147.30 

87.00 

19.20 

4.86 

3.10 

.68 

145.80 

93.00 

20.40 

4.32 

2.11 

.53 

86.40 

42.20 

10.60 

2.27 
34.05 


2.38 
35.70 


1.70 


1.94 

52.20 


1.62 
48  60 


1.83 
36  60 


^Imported— analyzed  at  this  station. 

With  the  exception  of  the  grape,  it  seems  that 
the  fig  draws  rather  more  heavily  upon  the 
mineral  ingredients  that  will  need  to  be  re- 
placed by  fertilization  than  do  any  of  the  other 
fruits  we  have  examined;  following  closely  the 
amounts  taken  up  by  the  grape  and  fig  of 
foreign  growth.  As  compared  with  the  fig, 
apricots  and  prunes,  like  oranges,  do  not 
in  any  case  draw  nearly  so  heavily  upon  the 
mineral  matters;  lemons  and  plums,  how- 
ever, very  nearly  approach  it.  And  among 
the  figs  we  note  that  the  White  Adriatic  stands 
somewhat  above  the  other  figs  in  this  respect. 
As  to  nitrogen,  it  is  readily  seen  that  among 
our  fruits  the  figs,  on  the  whole,  draw  decid- 
edly the  highest  amount  and  are  quite  like 
those  of  foreign  production  in  this  regard. 
Here,  again,  the  White  Adriatic  appears  to 
lead. 

Potash. — In  the  ashes  of  the  fig,  as  in  the 
prune,  apricot,  orange  and  lemon,  we  find 
potash  to  be  the  leading  ingredient,  amounting 
to  about  three-fifths  of  the  whole  ash.  From  the 
partial  ash  analysis,  given  above,  of  the  im- 
ported Smyrna  fig,  we  find  the  potash  to  be 
four-fifths  as  much  as  is  contained  in  the  ashes 
of  figs  of  California  growth.  We  may,  how- 
ever, say  for  the  fig,  as  for  other  California 
fruits,  that  although  potash  constitutes  so 
large  a  portion  of  the  ash  of  these  fruits,  its 
replenishment  to  the  soil  will  be  delayed  long 
beyond  the  addition  of  other  fertilizing  in- 
gredients, because  most  California  soils  are 
naturally  so  well  stocked  with  it  that  available 


Oh  _i 


Total. 


SSS  :S§  :S 

o'oo    "oo    -o 

O  O  — •     •  O  o     -o 


Ash,  Per  Cent \'Sl 


Organic  Matter,  Per  Cent . 


39  :8&    3 


£      Water,  Per  Cent 


g  £  In  Whole  Freeh  Fruit,  Per    S^co 
Cent 


Albumino-'ds  in  Whole  Fresh  \%%< 
Fruit  (Equivalent  to  Nitro-  *>:<r" 
gen),  Per  Cent ="" 


In   Whole  ±'resh  Fruit,   Per  I  2S£*  o>« 
Dent     -" 


—  O         rH  li>c 


Acid,  in  Juice,  in  Terms  of  (803)    22222°°Er22S2 
Sulphuric,  Per  Cent 


In  Whole  Fresh  Fruit,  Per 
Cent 


£  In  Juice,  Total   by  Copper 
Test,  Per  Cent. 


tO  LO  — /  O  ^*  *J*  O  —  -^P  O 

MlOOOStCN'OlO'^OIX) 

M'*O0>eOO'*ON00  0» 


<] 

H 
fi 
P 

O 

0 
H 

so 

s 

o 
O 

Total 

1*: 

Leas  Excess  of  Oxygen  due  to 

Total 

1  o>    • 

i  a>    '• 

m    - 

oo     - 

•**    - 

Sulphuric  Acid 

Phosphoric  Acid 

^g 

Br.  Oxide  of  Manganese 

OS      '. 

Peroxide  of  Iron 

00      | 

IO     - 

Soda 

Potash 

89 

Percentage  of  Pure  Ash. 


E: 

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No.  51;    Slate  Soil,  Twelve  Inches;  Au- 
burn  


No.  764;  Valley,  Loom  is  Station. 


No.  766;  Hill  Pine,  Loomis  Station. 


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No.  110;  Soil,  Putah  Valley;    Dixon,  Solano 
Co 

No.  972  ;  Subsoil  971 ;  Twelve  to  Twenty-four 
Inches 

No.  971 ;  Soil,  Twelve  Inches;  Mountain  View, 
Santa  Clara  Co 

No.  1159;    Soil,  Twelve  Inches;    Experiment 
Station,  near  Tulare  City 

No.  570 ;  Soil,  Fancher  Creek  Alluvium ;  Eisen 
Vineyard,  Fresno  Co 

No.  1466 ;  Soil.  Twelve  Inches ;  S.  W.  £,  S.  17, 
T.  26  S.  R  ,  23  E.,  Miramonte,  Kern  Co 


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Soil,  Erbeili,  Aidin  District. 


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Soil,  Erbeili  District. 


Soil,  Smyrna.    Sect  from  Department  of  Agri- 
culture, Washington 


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potash  for  the  current  demand  will  be  ade- 
quately supplied  for  many  years. 

It  will  be  noted  below  in  the  soil  discussion 
that  the  average  percentages  of  potash  for  both 
California  and  Asia  Minor  soils  is  nearly  iden- 
tical. 

Phosphoric  Acid. — The  fig,  like  the  lemon,  ap- 
pears to  range  a  little  below  the  other  fruits 
in  its  draft  upon  this  material,  for  we  find  the 
ashes  to  stand  in  the  following  order  in  their 
phosphoric  acid  percentages,  viz.,  prunes  14.1, 
apricots  13.1,  oranges  12.4,  and  lemons  and  figs 
11.1.  The  European  data  relating  to  this  sub- 
ject give  for  phosphoric  acid  a  figure  about  the 
fame  as  that  we  have  obtained  far  our  figs. 
Since  our  soils  usually  contain  a  very  limited 
supply  of  phosphoric  acid,  on  the  average  only 
about  one-fourth  that  given  below  for  Asia 
Minor  soils,  our  fig,  as  well  as  prune,  apricot 
and  orange  orchards,  will  require  phosphatic 
fertilizers  first. 

Nitrogen. —  As  above  stated,  the  fig  leads 
among  our  fruits  in  its  demand  upon  the  soil 
for  this  substance,  apricots  only  coming  near 
it  in  this  respect. 

Thus  we  find  that,  for  the  southern  localities 
especially,  the  same  necessity  of  early  replace- 
ment of  nitrogen  in  the  fig  and  stone  fruit  as  for 
orange  orchards,  and  partly  for  the  same  reason, 
viz.,  that  California  soils  are  usually  not  rich 
in  their  natural  supply  of  this  substance;  how- 
ever, they  contain  about  double  that  found  in 
the  Asia  Minor  soils,  as  indicated  by  the 
humus.  Of  the  other  ash  ingredients,  lime 
in  the  fig  ranges  about  twice  that  in  the  prune 
and  three  times  that  in  the  apricot,  while  the 
orange  and  lemon  show  some  2.5  to  3  times 
more.  As  our  soils  usually  contain  plenty 
of  lime,  even  for  oranges,  only  in  exceptional 
cases  would  there  be  any  necessity  of  replacing 
this  ingredient  by  fertilization. 

Soils. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  make  a  complete 
discussion  of  fig  soils,  but  merely  to  present 
the  analyses  of  the  soils  from  the  Asia  Minor 
districts  whence  comes  the  Smyrna  fig  of  com- 
merce; and,  by  way  of  comparison,  we  give  some 
analyses  of  typical  soils  from  different  regions 
in  this  State  where  fig  culture  seems  to  succeed. 

With  the  exception  of  the  analysis  of  soil 
No.  1466,  from  Miramonte,  Kern  Co.,  published 
here  for  the  first  time,  all  the  descriptions, 
analyses,  etc.,  of  the  California  soils  are  taken 
from  previous  reports  of  this  station. 

Unfortunately,  we  have  for  the  Asia  Minor 
soils  no  data  regarding  the  area  which  each  soil 
analyzed  represents,  the  depth  of  the  soil,  dis- 
tance to  water,  the  natural  growth,  etc. 

ASIA  MINOR  SOILS. 

A.  Soil  from  Smyrna,  Asia  Minor,  received 
at  the  University  May,  1891,  with  some  fig  cut- 
tings, imported  by  the  U.  S.  Department  of 
Agriculture — a  calcareous  loam,  dark  gray  in 
color;  somewhat  plastic  on  wetting  and  knead- 
ing; contains  fragments  of  limestone,  together 
with  considerable  fine  quartz  gravel. 

B.  Soil  from  Erbeili,  Asia  Minor,  said 
to  grow  the  finest  commercial  figs.  Sample 
sent  by  Geo.  C.  Roeding,  Fresno,  Cal.  This  is 
a  micaceous  sandy  soil,  of  light  buff  tint,  does 
not  become  plastic  on  wetting  and  kneading, 
and  consists  almost  entirely  of  fine  earth.  It 
shows  effervescence  with  acids. 


G.  Soil  from  Erbeili,  Aidin  district,  Asia 
Minor.  Sample  sent  by  D.  Van  Lennop, 
Auburn,  Cal.  A  sandy,  gravelly  loam,  light 
color;  showing  no  plasticity  upon  wetting  and 
kneading.  The  soil  contains  quite  a  large 
amount  of  coarse  gravel,  and  does  not  effer- 
vesce upon  the  addition  of  acids. 

It  will  be  seen  from  an  inspection  of  the 
analyses  of  the  Asia  Minor  soils  that  they  are 
all  exceedingly  well  supplied  with  lime  and 
phosphoric  acid,  and  in  the  case  of  soil  B  from 
Erbeili  district,  notably  also  with  potash. 
This  latter  soil  appears,  apart  from  the  humus 
contents,  to  be  the  richest,  with  its  1.09  per 
cent  of  potash,  1.96  of  lime  and  .29  per  cent 
of  phosphoric  acid.  It  does  not  contain  as 
much  lime  and  phosphoric  acid  as  soil  A,  which 
shows  4.44  and  .37  per  cent  respectively,  but 
the  potash  percentage  is  just  double  that  found 
in  soil  A,  and  figs  draw  quite  heavily  on  this 
very  important  ingredient.  Soil  B.  has  another 
very  striking  advantage  over  both  soils  A  and 
C,  in  that  while  they  have  35  and  40  per  cent 
respectively  of  coarse  materials,  soil  B  has  only 
one  per  cent  of  these. 

The  percentages  of  potash  and  lime  in  soil  C 
are  somewhat  below  those  of  the  other  two; 
while  in  phosphoric  acid  It  rates  the  same  as  B. 

When  comparing  the  nitrogen  contents  as 
indicated  by  the  humus  percentages,  we  note 
a  marked  deficiency  in  soil  B,  with  only  .27  per 
cent.  The  figure  for  soil  C,  .44,  about  1§  times 
that  of  soil  B,  is  only  fair;  and  in  soil  A, 
showing  nearly  three  times  as  much  humus  as 
does  soil  B,  is  satisfactory. 

The  moisture  absorption  is  low  in  both 
soils  B  and  C  and  only  fair  in  soil  A.  The 
higher  factor  in  A  was  to  be  expected, 
owing  to  its  rating  so  much  ahead  of  the  other 
two  in  humus. 

CALIFORNIA  SOILS. 

No.  1466.  Sandy  loam  soil  from  S.  W.  i  Sec. 
17,  T.  26  S.  R.  23  E.,  Miramonte,  Kern  Co.  Sent 
by  Geo.  A.  Raymond.  Consists  almost  entirely 
of  fine  earth.  Original  vegetation,  tar  weed  and 
pepper  cress.  It  is  of  a  dark  buff  tint,  becom- 
ing somewhat  plastic  on  wetting  and  kneading. 
Mr.  Raymond  writes,  under  date  of  September, 
1890,  regarding  this  soil: 

"  Top  soil  of  a  fine  fig  orchard,  a  quite  large 
streak  running  from  S.  E.  to  N.  W.  and  compris- 
ing about  200  acres.  Everything  does  well  in  this 
soil,  even  when  new  and  without  previous  culti- 
vation. The  growth  of  weeds  last  spring  was 
tremendous.  The  figs  (White  Adriatic)  are 
now  in  the  third  year  from  the  nursery,  with 
trunks  from  four  to  six  inches  in  diameter  and 
corresponding  tops.  The  trees  have  made  a 
heavy  growth  this  year,  though  setting  but  lit- 
tle fruit.  The  soil  bakes  hard  when  flooded, 
but  is  tillable  when  moist." 

The  analysis  of  this  soil  shows  it  to  contain 
high  percentages  of  potash,  lime  and  phos- 
phoric acid,  the  latter  approaching  very  nearly 
to  three  times  the  average  for  California  soils. 
The  nitrogen  as  indicated  by  the  humus  is 
in  a  fair  supply. 

No.  1159.  "Sandy  soil  from  the  Experiment 
Station  tract  near  Tulare  City,  of  a  buff  tint, 
quite  sandy,  not  assuming  any  plasticity  on 
wetting  and  kneading,  and  capable  of  tillage  at 
all  times.  Originally  timbered  with  scattering 
but  large  white  oaks.  Sample  taken  to  the 
depth  of  12  inches;  at  18  to  20  inches  the  color 
changes  slightly  toward  yellowish,  but  texture 


continues  unchanged;  at  36  inches  to  40  inches   The  analysis  of  this  soil  confirms  the  experience 


there  underlies  a  more  compact  material  or 
hardpan,  fairly  coherent  and  of  somewhat  finer 
texture,  preventing  leach iness.  Effervesces 
with  acid." 

This  soil,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  analysis 
given  in  the  table  below,  is  rich  in  potash  and 
lime;  contains  an  adequate  supply  of  phos- 
phoric acid.  It  is  very  low  in  humus  in  the 
the  spot  sampled,  but  doubtless  this  is  not  the 


stated  above  relating  to  the  fertility  of  the  soils 
of  this  section.  The  amount  of  potash  is  large 
and  those  of  lime  and  phosphoric  acid  adequate. 
No.  766.  Granite  soil,  from  near  Loomis  (for- 
merly Pino  station,)  C.  P.  Railroad,  Placer  Co.; 
sent  by  E.  W.  Maslin  of  Sacramento,  who  thus 
describes  the  soil:  "  There  are  about  80  square 
miles  of  such  land  lying  between  Boulder  ridge 
and  the  North  Fork  of  the  American  river  and 


case  throughout,  judging  from  the  appearance    between  Roseville  on  the  south  and  Auburn 


of  the  land.  Its  high  percentage  of  soda  tells 
of  the  vicinity  of  alkali  spots.  So  far  as  can  be 
judged  this  soil  is  fairly  representative  of  the 
higher  portion  of  the  sandy  plains  generally 
from  Kern  to  Stanislaus  connty. 

No.  570.  Alluvial  soil,  12  inches;  Eisen  vine- 
yard, Fresno  Co.;  reddish-brown,  only  moder- 
ately heavy,  with  much  coarse  sand  intermixed; 
easily  tilled,  except  when  very  wet.  This  soil 
represents  the  alluvium  of  the  minor  streams 
heading  in  the  foothills.  The  phosphoric  acid 
in  this  soil  is  very  low,  but  this  deficiency  is  in 
some  respects  modified  by  the  great  depth  and 
perviousness  of  the  soil.  The  supply  of  lime  is 
abundant  and  that  of  potash  above  the  average. 

Nos.  971,  972.  Dark  gravelly  loam  soil  and  sub- 
soil, from  vineyard  and  orchard  of  Mr.  J. 
Sladky,  Mountain  View,  Santa  Clara  Co.,  Cal. 
The  soil  is  a  mouse-colored  clay-loam,  inter- 
mixed with  a  good  deal  of  gravel,  some  of  the 
latter  quite  coarse,  and  both  rounded  and  an- 
gular. The  lumps  of  dry  soil  can  be  crushed 
between  the  fingers  with  some  difficulty,  and 
on  wetting  it  becomes  only  moderately  ad- 
hesive. 

This  soil  represents  the  extreme  western  edge 
of  the  sloping,  gently  rolling  plain   that  forms 


the  western  portion  of  the  Santa  Clara  valley,    soils  from   the  depression  or  vallevs  seem 


southward  of  Mountain  View.  Along  the 
streams  the  soil  is  of  great  depth,  sometimes 
showing  hardly  a  perceptible  change  for  12  or 
15  feet  in  depth,  and  the  roots  of  trees  are  found 
penetrating  freely  to  such  depths  in  the  gravelly 
material.  This  great  depth,  perviousness  and 
perfect  drainage  would  constitute  alone  no 
mean  advantage  if  the  soil  were  only  of  moder- 
ate fertility.  But  the  analyses  show  a  very 
good  supply  of  plant  food.  The  potash,  lime 
and  humus  are  high,  and  the  phosphoric  acid 
is  found  in  very  fair  amounts.  It  is  true  that 
these  percentages  apply  to  only  one-half  of  the 
soil  mass,  the  rest  being  gravel.  But  the  great 
depth  and  easy  permeability  of  the  soil  more 
than  make  up  the  difference  in  comparison, 
e.  g.,  with  an  adobe  soil  of  similar  composition. 

These  soils  may  be  considered  as  well  adapted 
to  the  production  of  almost  any  fruit  consistent 
with  the  local  climate. 

No.  110 


ravine  on  the  north.  The  ground  is  gray  when 
dry;  when  damp,  brown  or  reddish.  In  places 
the  soil  is  from  9  to  10  feet  deep;  in  some  places 
not  over  one  foot.  The  subsoil  also  varies  in 
depth  and  character.  On  the  hills  the  subsoil 
rests  on  a  red,  rotten  granite,  into  which  the 
roots  of  trees  and  shrubs  penetrate.  It  has  been 
dug  with  the  pick  to  the  depth  of  20  feet.  In 
the  valleys  there  underlies  a  gritty  clay,  here 
called  '  cement,'  but  also  penetrable  by  roots. 
Water  is  within  10  to  12  feet  of  the  surface  of 
the  hills  in  summer.  The  natural  growth  is 
live  oak,  white  oak,  digger  and  nut  pine,  chap- 
arral 8  to  10  feet  high,  abundance  of  poison  oak 
and  California  holly." 

"  The  growth  of  the  fig  tree  is  very  satisfac- 
tory. I  do  not  irrigate,  and  my  observation  is, 
that  the  fig  tree  as  a  producer  of  first-class  figs 
does  better  in  the  foothills  than  in  the  valley. 
Where  the  soil  is  too  rich  the  tree  is  apt  to 
overgrow  and  go  to  wood  instead  of  fruit." 

The  hill  soil,  which  seems  to  be  a  typical 
one,  is  a  reddish-gray  sandy  loam,  the  sand 
mostly  coarse,  and  consisting  largely of  granitic 
debris;  it  should  till  easily  at  all  times.  The 
subsoil  below  the  depth  of  12  inches  is  some- 
what lighter  colored  and   more  sandy.     The 

to 


differ  from  the  hill  land  mainly  in  being  some- 
what heavier  and  also  of  a  darker  tint. 

No.  764.  Valley  soil  from  same  locality  as 
No.  766;  a  brownish  dun-colored,  rather  sandy 
loam,  darkening  materially  on  wetting  and  be- 
coming but  slightly  plastic.  Contains  much 
coarse  granitic  debris.  Sample  taken  to  depth 
of  12  inches. 

The  subsoil  of  this  land  is  more  reddish  and 
somewhat  sandier  than  the  surface  soil,  the 
sand  being  decomposed  micaceous  granite,  in- 
creasing downward.  Beneath  the  subsoil  at 
depths  varying  from  3  to  10  feet  is  a  porous, 
sandy  hardpan  (cement)  quite  coherent  from 
clayey  binding  material  and  not  readily  pene- 
trable bv  roots.  Beneath  this  comes  "  rotten  " 
granite  (sometimes  to  20  feet  depth)  in  which 
the  feldspar  masses  are  kaolinized. 

These  two  granite  soils  show  the  usual  large 


amount  of  inert  material  (granitic  sand  or  de- 
Soil  of  Putah  Valley,  near  Dixon,  bris)  which  naturally  depresses  the  plant  food 
bolano  county,  sent  by  Mr.  J.  M.  Dudley  from  percentages.  The  valley  soil  differs  from  that 
ftu  mid(Jle  land  "  of  the  plain,  on  the  slopes  of  the  ridges,  as  might  be  expected,  in  some- 
i  l? e  s^ale?-  about  three  feet  above  the  lowest  what  higher  percentages  of  lime— of  which  sub- 
land.  Depth  taken,  12  inches.  The  soil  is  rep- 
resentative of  the  rich  alluvial  plains  of  Yolo 
and  Solano  counties,  the  soils  of  which  are  of 
pre-eminent  fertility,  being  a  mixture  of  the 
finest  natural    sediments  of    the   Sacramento 


stance,  however,  there  is  enough  in  both — and 
of  phosphoric  acid,  of  which  the  supply  is  small 
in  both,  and  will  doubtless  be  the  first  de- 
ficiency to  be  supplied.  Potash  is  present  in 
.  adequate  amounts,  and  humus  is  in  fair  supply, 
river  with  those  carried  by  the  streams  heading  especially  in  the  valley  soil,  causing  the  higher 
1Du  •  u  J°ic*mo  portion  of  the  Coast  Range  (of  absorption  of  moisture  as  compared  with  the 
which  Cache  and  Putah  creeks  are  the  chief),  ridge  soil.  In  both,  however,  that  factor  is 
±ne  plain  is  scarcely  broken  by  the  slight  low,  henee  irrigation  would  doubtless  be  very 
swales  or  undulations  coming  down  from  the  beneficial  to  the  thrifty  growth  of  the  crops, 
lootnuis;  but  the  region  is  thickly  settled  and  The  somewhat  slow  progress  of  vines  and  trees 
is  largely  occupied  by  orchards  and  vineyards,    in  the  granitic  soils  of  the  foothills  is  at  many 


points  a  matter  of  popular  remark  and  com- 
plaint. 

No.  51.  Red  surface  soil  from  near  Auburn, 
Placer  Co.,  taken  12  inches  deep;  sent  by  Mr. 
N.  S.  Prosser  of  Auburn;  original  vegetation, 
oak,  pine,  maDzanita  and  chaparral. 

This  is  a  fair  sample  of  the  red  soil  of  the 
placer  mines,  which  seems  to  contain  a  small 
amount  of  gold  everywhere,  and  has  been 
washed  on  a  small  scale  ever  since  the  discovery 
of  gold  in  California.  It  is  of  a  dark  orange 
color,  rather  light  in  tillage,  and  pulverulent 
when  dry,  forming  a  very  fine  reddish  dust.  It 
contains  throughout  numerous  fragments  of 
slate,  more  or  less  decomposed,  of  all  sizes,  and 
is  usually  underlaid  by  the  same,  or  its  debris, 
at  a  variable  depth,  rarely  less  than  several 
feet,  unless  lying  on  steep  slopes.  The  soil  be- 
comes slightly  plastic  on  wetting,  and  can  be 
worked  soon  after  rains;  its  color  darkens  con- 
siderably on  wetting.  When  dry,  its  lumps 
are  easily  crushed  between  the  fingers. 

The  Auburn  soil— a  typical  slate  one— differs 
from  the  granitic  soils  of  Pino  in  one  very  es- 
sential respect — it  has  on  the  ridge  land  over 
five  times  as  much  phosphoric  acid  as  the  soil 
and  four  times  as  much  as  the  subsoil,  derived 
from  the  granite.  In  other  respects  it  does  not 
differ  widely  except  that  it  contains  much  less 
inert  matter  as  indicated  by  the  insoluble  mat- 
ter. But  its  well-known  high  production,  both 
in  quantity  and  quality,  and  its  thriftiness  con- 
firm the  forecast  given  by  the  analysis.  Prac- 
tically the  same  soil  prevails  near  Newcastle 
and  to  the  southeast  of  Penryn — all  localities 
noted  for  the  production  of  fine  shipping  fruits. 

table  of  soil  analyses.— (See  page  5.) 

The  comparison  of  the  analyses  of  the  Asia 
Minor  soils  with  those  from  this  State  shows 
very  strikingly  the  richness  in  phosphoric  acid 
of  the  former  over  the  latter.  The  lowest  per 
centage  of  this  ingredient  in  the  Asia  Minor  soils, 
.29  found  in  Soil  B,  is  more  than  one  and  one- 
third  times  as  much  as  the  highest,  .22  shown 
in  soil  No.  1466  from  Miramonte,  of  the  Cali- 
fornia sjils,  and  the  average,  .32  per  cent  of  the 


three  Smyrna  soils,  is  almost  exactly  four  times 
the  average  for  all  California  soils  examined 
(about  200  in  number)  and  nearly  three  times 
the  figure  .113,  denoting  the  average  of  phos- 
phoric acid  for  466  soils  of  the  humid  region 
(east  of  the  Rocky  mountains)  of  the  United 
States. 

With  reference  to  lime,  the  average  for  the 
Asia  Minor  soils  is  2.60  as  against  1.08  for  Cali- 
fornia. The  figures  .690  for  Asia  Minor  and 
.644  for  California,  representing  the  averages 
for  potash,  show  that  both  sets  of  soils  are 
about  equally  well  supplied  with  this  element 
of  plant  food. 

A  marked  difference,  in  favor  of  California 
soils,  is  at  once  seen  when  the  humus  percent- 
ages are  compared.  The  average  for  the  Asia 
Minor  soils  is  only  .47,  being  less  than  one-half 
that,  1.08  per  cent,  found  for  the  average  of  198 
California  soils. 

Below  is  a  tabular  view  of  the  averages  just 
discussed: 

AVERAGE  PERCENTAGES  OF  THE  IMPORTANT  INGRE- 
DIENTS IN  SOILS  OF  ARID  AND  HUMID  REGIONS. 


Arid. 

Humid. 

Q 

i> 

q 

so  g> 

£go  o  es 

as 

Soil  Ingredients. 

£i 

cap 
00  £ 

oofs* 

:  S£2 

S1® 

:"£ 

:  to  o  ., 

:  ? 

Potash 

.644 
1.078 

.083 
1.040 

.690 

2.600 

.320 

.470 

.216 

.108 

.113 

Humus 

2.390 

The  above  little  table  conveys  a  forcible 
illustration  of  an  arid  region  showing  far 
greater  amounts  of  potash  and  lime  in  its  soils 
than  does  a  hnmid  one. 

M.  E.  Jaffa, 
George  E.  Colby. 
Berkeley,  June  22,  1893. 


